Friday, May 30, 2008

What to do in San Francisco with kids

So the week was full of activities. Some of it was driven by key features in the Good Night San Francisco book I bought for Hana and Jeri. We went to see the Sea Lions and the beach and Cliff House to see if there were more sea lions there. We went up to Clement St (the real Chinatown in SF as far as I'm concerned) and picked up some pork buns and noodles at Wing Lee Bakery and BBQ. Then with cheap yummy bits to eat, we went out to visit the Rossi Playground. First time we were here, we came with baked pork bun, but the playground was lame. This time is was all renovated and FUN!. Kids approved of the playground with their name on it. We checked out the Windmill and drove around Stow Lake. We hit the Golden Gate Park Playground again with Amanda. She missed the old swings, but she had a grand time with her cousins sliding down the stone slide and checking out new equipment.

The Exploratorium was a hit, although HJ and I ducked out to get a little shopping done. Warm clothes for the girls and sweat pants for Bill. We swooped back and met the gang finishing up at the Exploratorium. Seems the best time to go is later in the afternoon when the class trips are heading out. Last time we came here it was late and everyone seemed sad to be kicked out at 5pm.

So Wednesday night I picked up Dad. I'm really becoming a big fan of the Cell Phone Park and Call lot at SFO. It's quite hidden, but right next to the Long Term Parking area. You can get back to the terminals in a minute or two so you can wait until they have their bags and swoop down and scoop 'em up. Me I waited until Dad's plane landed, added 10 minutes to get to the gate and another 10 to get off the plane before I head for the parking lot. After picking up 4 groups in less than a week, my timing was spot on.

The next day, we bought day passes and rode on the cable cars to Market St, then down to the Wharf on the old style F Street railway. Today's goal was to catch Musee Mechanique and go to the Aquarium of the Bay. Then work our way back to the hotel a short rest and then onto the 38 Geary to go to a nice place for an Italian dinner. On the way back, we found great stuff at the big Good Will store on Fillmore. I made a huge mistake and handed Natalie a wireless phone. I had assumed that there would be toys for me to do a bait and switch. I just couldn't yank her new favorite toy out of her hand. Michelle called me a light-weight. It's true. I found a couple of books, one with horses you can pet which was a life-saver for me. Whew! Friday we split up and had a low key day. Dad and I caught up with Michelle, Steve and the girls to do a geocache. On the way out, we did one of dad's caches. He spotted a box of junk on the side of the road and we ended up with a working heater, an electric frying pan and a green thermos. Great stuff to take camping. Friday night was a big get together at the new Moonstar in Daly City. Les and Ceal, Cathryn, Crystal and Esther joined the gang for dinner. I had fun messing with the cotton candy. Friday's done time to get packing and ready for the weekend!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Whew...I'm tired already- just reliving our piece of the palooza! Bravo on the blog.Michelle